Paris riots spark 100 fires

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Firemen try to extinguish a blazing car during the fifth night of riots in Clichy-sous-Bois in Paris.Photo: Reuters

Violence has erupted for a sixth night in the troubled suburbs
north-east of Paris with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas
as they face down gangs of youths in Aulnay-sous-Bois, according to
witnesses.

A store was set afire in the nearby suburb of Bondy, France-Info
radio reported.

No trouble was immediately reported in Clichy-sous-Bois, where
rioting began last Thursday following the accidental deaths of two
teenagers. The latest violence broke out as Interior Minister
Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris with youths and officials from
Clichy-sous-Bois.

An Associated Press Television news team reported confrontations
between about 20 police and 40 youths in Aulnay-sous-Bois with
police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

France-Info said that about 100 fires burned in numerous suburbs
of the Seine-Saint-Denis region, an area of soaring unemployment,
delinquency and other urban ills.

A carpet store in the town of Bondy was set afire, and cars were
burning in Bondy and Sevran, France-Info reported.

Tension had mounted after angry young men torched cars, garbage
bins and even a primary school in several days of rioting that
highlighted the division between France's big cities and their poor
satellites where disenchantment thrives.